Contrast-enhanced thin-slice abdominal CT with super-resolution deep learning reconstruction technique: evaluation of image quality and visibility of anatomical structures.

Purpose: To compare image quality and visibility of anatomical structures on contrast-enhanced thin-slice abdominal CT images reconstructed using super-resolution deep learning reconstruction (SR-DLR), deep learning-based reconstruction (DLR), and hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR) algorithms.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 54 consecutive patients who underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal CT. Thin-slice images (0.

Model-based estimation of heart movements using microwave Doppler radar sensor.

Background: Heart rate is one of the most crucial vital signs and can be measured remotely using microwave Doppler radar. As the distance between the body and the Doppler radar sensor increases, the output signal weakens, making it difficult to extract heartbeat waveforms. In this study, we propose a new template-matching method that addresses this issue by simulating Doppler radar signals.

Prediction models for differentiating benign from malignant liver lesions based on multiparametric dual-energy non-contrast CT.

Objectives: To create prediction models (PMs) for distinguishing between benign and malignant liver lesions using quantitative data from dual-energy CT (DECT) without contrast agents.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included patients with liver lesions who underwent DECT, including non-contrast-enhanced scans. Benign lesions included hepatic hemangioma, whereas malignant lesions included hepatocellular carcinoma, metastatic liver cancer, and intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma.

Assessment of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor on Retinal Structure and Visual Function in Rodent Models of Optic Nerve Crush.

The effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival and visual function were assessed in rat and mouse models of optic nerve (ON) crush. ONs were crushed on Day 1, followed by intravitreal injections of a vehicle or BDNF on Days 1 and 8. The spatial frequency threshold was measured using optokinetic tracking on Days 7 and 14.

Photon-counting CT: technical features and clinical impact on abdominal imaging.

Photon-counting CT has a completely different detector mechanism than conventional energy-integrating CT. In the photon-counting detector, X-rays are directly converted into electrons and received as electrical signals. Photon-counting CT provides virtual monochromatic images with a high contrast-to-noise ratio for abdominal CT imaging and may improve the ability to visualize small or low-contrast lesions.

Extended just-noticeable difference for ultralow-luminance displays used in diagnostic imaging.

This study investigates the just-noticeable difference (JND) in luminance below the 0.050 / threshold not covered by the DICOM standard in medical imaging displays. A total of 21 healthy young adults were tested using an ultralow-luminance liquid crystal display at a viewing distance of 46 cm.

Steroid-Induced Ocular Hypertension in Mice Is Differentially Reduced by Selective EP2, EP3, EP4, and IP Prostanoid Receptor Agonists.

We tested five chemically and metabolically stable prostaglandin (PG) receptor agonists in a mouse model of dexamethasone-induced ocular hypertension (OHT). Whilst all compounds significantly ( < 0.05, ANOVA) lowered intraocular pressure (IOP) after twice-daily bilateral topical ocular dosing (5 µg/dose) over three weeks, the time course and magnitude of the responses varied.

Microfabricated Nitinol Stent Retrievers with a Micro-Patterned Surface.

Stent retrievers are medical devices that are designed to physically remove blood clots from within the blood vessels of the brain. This paper focuses on microfabricated nitinol (nickel-titanium alloy) stent retrievers, which feature micro-patterns on their surface to enhance the effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy. A thick film of nitinol, which was 20 µm in thickness, was sputtered onto a substrate with a micro-patterned surface, using electroplated copper as the sacrificial layer.

Hepatic and pancreatic extracellular volume fraction analysis using contrast-enhanced CT in patients with diabetes mellitus and pre-diabetes.

Purpose: Liver and pancreatic fibrosis is associated with diabetes mellitus (DM), and liver fibrosis is associated with pancreatic fibrosis. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the hepatic and pancreatic extracellular volume fractions (fECVs), which correlate with tissue fibrosis, and their relationships with DM and pre-DM (pDM).

Material And Methods: We included 100 consecutive patients with known or suspected liver and/or pancreatic diseases who underwent contrast-enhanced CT.

Image Quality and Lesion Detectability of Pancreatic Phase Thin-Slice Computed Tomography Images With a Deep Learning-Based Reconstruction Algorithm.

Objective: To evaluate the image quality and lesion detectability of pancreatic phase thin-slice computed tomography (CT) images reconstructed with a deep learning-based reconstruction (DLR) algorithm compared with filtered-back projection (FBP) and hybrid iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithms.

Methods: Fifty-three patients who underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced CT including pancreatic phase were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pancreatic phase thin-slice (0.

Positional relationship between the Achilles tendon and sural nerve on ultrasound.

Purpose: This study sought to clarify the positional relationship between the Achilles tendon and sural nerve using ultrasound.

Methods: We studied 176 legs in 88 healthy volunteers. The positional relationship between the Achilles tendon and sural nerve at heights of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 cm proximal from the calcaneus' proximal margin was investigated by distance and depth.

Effect of Deep Learning Reconstruction on Respiratory-triggered T2-weighted MR Imaging of the Liver: A Comparison between the Single-shot Fast Spin-echo and Fast Spin-echo Sequences.

Purpose: To compare the effects of deep learning reconstruction (DLR) on respiratory-triggered T2-weighted MRI of the liver between single-shot fast spin-echo (SSFSE) and fast spin-echo (FSE) sequences.

Methods: Respiratory-triggered fat-suppressed liver T2-weighted MRI was obtained with the FSE and SSFSE sequences at the same spatial resolution in 55 patients. Conventional reconstruction (CR) and DLR were applied to each sequence, and the SNR and liver-to-lesion contrast were measured on FSE-CR, FSE-DLR, SSFSE-CR, and SSFSE-DLR images.

Noninvasive Liver Fibrosis Staging: Comparison of MR Elastography with Extracellular Volume Fraction Analysis Using Contrast-Enhanced CT.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of liver fibrosis staging with MR elastography and of staging with extracellular volume fraction (fECV) analysis using contrast-enhanced CT. Methods: This retrospective study included 60 patients who underwent both MR elastography and contrast-enhanced CT before liver surgery between October 2013 and July 2020. Two radiologists independently measured liver stiffness of MR elastography and fECV of CT images.

Pancreatic fibrosis by extracellular volume fraction using Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and relationship with pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the relationship between pancreatic fibrosis measured by the extracellular volume fraction (ECV) using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and the histologic pancreatic fibrosis fraction and investigate the relationship between pancreatic fibrosis and pancreatic cancer.

Method: The study included 88 consecutive patients (48 males, 40 females; median age, 69 years; range, 17-89 years); 47 had pancreatic cancer, and 41 had other diseases. Fifty-two cases were evaluated pathologically for pancreatic fibrosis.

Three-dimensional conditional generative adversarial network-based virtual thin-slice technique for the morphological evaluation of the spine.

Virtual thin-slice (VTS) technique is a generative adversarial network-based algorithm that can generate virtual 1-mm-thick CT images from images of 3-10-mm thickness. We evaluated the performance of VTS technique for assessment of the spine. VTS was applied to 4-mm-thick CT images of 73 patients, and the visibility of intervertebral spaces was evaluated on the 4-mm-thick and VTS images.